Scientists are getting closer to realizing the dream of "talking" to animals using artificial intelligence, but this revolutionary idea raises serious concerns about the privacy of these creatures and the potential for exploitation.
Experts warn that the technologies that enable decoding animal communication may carry significant risks. While machine learning models pave the way for cataloging and even simulating the sounds that animals use to communicate, experts believe there is a risk that has not been considered in research ethics: the violation of animal privacy through the collection of data about their sounds and movements, especially since many animals have complex social lives that make them concerned about how they appear to others.
Additionally, the ability to "talk" to animals could pose risks to the natural world, particularly through the playback technique, which is the practice of broadcasting recorded animal sounds from the wild.
Vittorio Baglioni, a biologist who has spent his career cataloging the calls of crows, believes that AI models have helped him filter his recordings and discover patterns in certain calls, such as the call for "Come help!" that crows use to summon others to defend the nest. However, he warned that this technology could be exploited by hunters or anyone with malicious intent to lure birds, potentially causing stress to the animals or disrupting their social environment or sparking conflicts among them.
César Rodríguez-Garavito, director of the More-Than-Human Life program at New York University, emphasizes that the playback technology remains controversial as it exploits an animal's trust in a specific sound to force it to act in ways that the user desires.
In his 2025 report, he noted that this technology could expose animals to crowds of humans wanting to communicate with them or even to weaponize them against themselves.
Previous research points to the risks, as zoologist Katy Payne admitted in 2007 that she caused significant distress to an elephant when playing a recording of its deceased ancestor's voice.
Despite these concerns, a $10 million prize is still outstanding for a project capable of establishing communication with an animal without the animal being aware that it is communicating with humans.
Billionaire Jeremy Coller, who funds the "Coller-Doolittle" challenge, believes that humans will achieve this goal within the current decade, considering the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence gives him absolute certainty that they will crack the code by 2030.